Sony: E-readers 'selling out around the world'

[MaxLV]

A little while back, Barnes & Noble Chairman Len Riggio said his company was straining to meet demand for its Nook Color for the holiday season. Then it was Amazon's turn to let it be known that it was selling millions of Kindles this holiday season. Now Sony, not wanting to be left out of the rosy e-reader numbers game, says that it's "expecting both the Reader Touch and Daily Editions will sell out around the world before the holidays," which we assume means Christmas.



Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-...#ixzz18VBsWGm2

Unfortunately Sony is probably talking about selling tens of thousands rather than houndreds of thousands like their competitors. I get the feeling Sony didn't manufacture nearly as many units as Amazon or B&N.

[elcreative]

And I seriously doubt that anybody (and I do include Amazon in that) is selling MILLIONS...

Originally Posted by MaxLV

A little while back, Barnes & Noble Chairman Len Riggio said his company was straining to meet demand for its Nook Color for the holiday season. Then it was Amazon's turn to let it be known that it was selling millions of Kindles this holiday season. Now Sony, not wanting to be left out of the rosy e-reader numbers game, says that it's "expecting both the Reader Touch and Daily Editions will sell out around the world before the holidays," which we assume means Christmas.



Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-...#ixzz18VBsWGm2

[lack]

yeah... "sell out" is a relative word.

Hey, I made up a new name for Sony's marketing campaign. It's "Marketing through secrecy"

[HarryT]

All manufacturers are dependent on the supply of screens from eInk in Taiwan. That's the bottleneck in the production process common to them all.

[lack]

Well "selling out" doesn't say anything about "unable to replenish stock".
It just means they filled their quota (or stock) for one round of manufacturing lot, or stocking for a distributor.
In case of Sony I guess it means they manufactured x devices, expected to sell y devices, and DID sell them out at predicted, z timeline.

But we don't know how much is x, y and z. That's why it is a relative word.

Some thread mentions back order happened though, which might be caused by eink supply.

[kartu]

Originally Posted by elcreative

And I seriously doubt that anybody (and I do include Amazon in that) is selling MILLIONS...

They've claimed to have sold 3 million (total) by december 2009r. It was projected (Barclays) that they would sell about 3 million in 2010. It's quite possible that they actually do sell it in millions.

I wonder, if Sony sells at least hundreds of thousands.

Originally Posted by kartu

I wonder, if Sony sells at least hundreds of thousands.

I'm sure they could if they would actively market them. They are very good eBook readers. But if consumers don't know they exist, they won't buy them.

[natasha_fawn]

Originally Posted by kartu

They've claimed to have sold 3 million (total) by december 2009r. It was projected (Barclays) that they would sell about 3 million in 2010. It's quite possible that they actually do sell it in millions.

I wonder, if Sony sells at least hundreds of thousands.

I've found a few mentions of Sony announcing in 2008 that it had sold 300,000 readers total, world-wide I assume (http://www.dealerscope.com/article/s...years-400982/1, http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/0...ler/index.html). I find the second article kind of interesting, actually, it's a 2008 comparison of Kindle and Sony, with the closing line "But, all things considered, it's the Sony Reader that wins his verdict as the e-book of choice."

[elcreative]

The info I was disbelieving related to an Amazon claim to have sold millions in the Holiday Season, not overall...

Originally Posted by kartu

They've claimed to have sold 3 million (total) by december 2009r. It was projected (Barclays) that they would sell about 3 million in 2010. It's quite possible that they actually do sell it in millions.

I wonder, if Sony sells at least hundreds of thousands.

[doreenjoy]

In general I disbelieve all press releases involving figures and statistics.

[elcreative]

99% of the time I agree but statistically the odds are always in favour of things not being as stated...

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

In general I disbelieve all press releases involving figures and statistics.

[KenJackson]

Originally Posted by HarryT

All manufacturers are dependent on the supply of screens from eInk in Taiwan. That's the bottleneck in the production process common to them all.

I didn't realize that and I'm glad to hear it.

I willingly paid considerably more for my PRS-650 than comparable Kindles and Kobos were selling for, because I felt it was worth the higher price. But I've been concerned that Sony will price themselves out of the market. Many people don't weigh the differences, are more willing to compromise, or just don't have a few more dollars.

But if Sony can only manufacture X units, they may as well sell them for the highest price that X customers are willing to pay. That will give them the revenue needed to stay out of trouble.

[lack]

Originally Posted by KenJackson

because I felt it was worth the higher price. But I've been concerned that Sony will price themselves out of the market. Many people don't weigh the differences, are more willing to compromise, or just don't have a few more dollars.

But if Sony can only manufacture X units, they may as well sell them for the highest price that X customers are willing to pay. That will give them the revenue needed to stay out of trouble.

Apple did it and they succeed. But then again, Apple = Good Advertising

[doreenjoy]

Originally Posted by lack

Apple did it and they succeed. But then again, Apple = Good Advertising

Apple = willing to lose money on a product by investing more $$$$$$$ in advertising than they make on net sales.